‘Pose’ Star Dominique Jackson Calls Out Coach for Exploiting Pride and Misgendering Her

Dominique Jackson, one of the trans actresses slaying the game in the new FX series Pose, just posted an Instagram video in which she explains how she feels fashion brand Coach is exploiting the LGBTQ community during Pride season.

“So, happy Pride, everyone,” Jackson says to her audience. “I hope you guys have been watching and enjoying Pose. As we’re doing something like this, a lot of stuff comes by, and that is that a lot of companies join in on the Pride celebration to show they’re all-inclusive when they’re really not. They don’t research us. They don’t understand us. They don’t attempt to comprehend us.”

Jackson tells her story about the luxe purse and accessories label. “Coach contacted me and asked me to come in and tell my life story,” she explains. “They offered nothing. Not a car ride. Nothing. Not a pocketbook. Nothing.”

Next, Jackson says that not only was Coach not interested in offering her anything for her story; the label also offended her in the process.

“Then one of their representatives contacts me to invite me to something called their ‘Pride Ball’ and misgendered me!” Jackson says. “You didn’t do your research. You haven’t — obviously — watched Pose. You’re not following the true stories of LGBTQ community, ’cause you would know that a woman like myself should never be misgendered. It’s so insulting.”

Dominque Jackson is currently starring in the first season of Ryan Murphy’s new drama Pose, airing Sundays on FX. The groundbreaking series features the largest cast of trans actors in series regular roles, as well as the largest recurring cast of LGBTQ actors ever for a scripted series.

What do you think of Dominique Jackson’s recent video? Sound off in the comments below and on Facebook.

UPDATE, 4:15 p.m. PST: Coach has reached out to Dominique Jackson regarding her video. Here’s what the label had to say:

Dear Dominique, as we just emailed you, our apologies for this grave mistake. In our effort to celebrate you and the LGBTQ+ community, through our invitation to join us for Pride Ball, we clearly erred, using a template message that we didn’t check before sending, and therefore got it wrong.

In your words, we should have done more to understand the transgender community and to honor you, as a woman. Inclusivity is one of our company values and, while we endeavor to demonstrate this inclusivity every day, we are also learning.

We hope you will help us learn and would like to invite you, and several of your peers, for a conversation to understand how we can avoid future misses and support you in celebrating this beautiful community.